Perceptual-cognitive deficits and neuropathological changes have been repeatedly demonstrated in detoxified alcoholics. These findings need clarification through consideration of four research areas: 1) neuropsychological hypotheses as to the disrupted brain-behavior relationships; 2) the role of age and drinking duration in the obtained deficits; 3) the time course of recovery from deficits and 4) the relation of deficits to treatment outcome. Two neuropsychological hypotheses are proposed; i.e. the deficit behaviors are due to a) disrupted frontal-limbic system functioning and b) relative dysfunction of the right compared to left hemisphere. Evidence exists for both hypotheses but needs extension and specification. Male alcoholics will be given tests on which frontal lobe patients (but not post-frontal patients) are known to do poorly, while selected visual-spatial and tactual-spatial tasks will test the right hemisphere hypothesis. Age and duration of drinking effects will be studied in all experiments. Performance on abstracting and visuo-perceptual tests in groups of alcoholics tested from 3 weeks to one year will give evidence as to reversibility and time course of recovery. Relation of deficits to life adaptation over the year of follow-up will test relevance to treatment outcome.